Anthony Scaramucci Set To Make Up To $77 Million In Hedge Fund Sale That Has Yet to Close

Anthony Scaramucci, named Donald Trump's new White House communications director, is a millionaire former hedge fund investor who shores up the stable of bankers in the president's inner circle. It is the first administration role for the 53-year-old. (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Former hedge fund investor and Obama donor Anthony Scaramucci has gone through lengths to distance himself from his past in order to take on the role of White House communications director to President Trump, a role he officially assumed on Friday.

This included resigning from his post as co-managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, a fund of hedge funds he founded in 2005. He also announced plans to sell his controlling stake to Chinese firm HNA Capital and American investment firm RON Transatlantics. While SkyBridge announced the sale of those shares plus those owned by an Australian firm in January 2017, the deal has yet to close. A source close to the negotiations confirmed Scaramucci’s 44% stake in SkyBridge in a sale that put the firm’s value at $200 million to $230 million. As of March 2017, the firm managed $11.4 billion in assets. “The deal is still pending regulatory approval but it should go through in the next four to six weeks,” the source said. FORBES estimates Scaramucci could make up to $77 million, after taxes.

The Chinese buyer has been under some scrutiny for its opaque financial and ownership structure. HNA Capital, a New York-based subsidiary of HNA Group, is a Chinese conglomerate that conducts business in a variety of sectors including real estate, aviation, shipbuilding, finance and more. The company picked up a 9.92% stake in Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank, in May 2017. The European Central Bank, a regulatory institution that watches over central banks in the eurozone, is reportedly considering opening an inquiry into HNA’s financial standing as a result of the company’s Deutsche ownership. Officials are worried that HNA’s capital is fueled by large loans from the Chinese state banks.

Scaramucci is a native New Yorker and received his law degree from Harvard. He worked at Goldman Sachs for seven years, eventually becoming a vice president in the private wealth management division. Before founding SkyBridge he started Oscar Capital Management, a financial services company, which was sold to investment firm Neuberger Berman in 2001 for an undisclosed sum.